There are thousands of ways to earn money online – the ability to monetize a website being one of the best options available.
Whether you are a novice, or a professional blogger looking for monetization strategies, you’ll find a way to earn online.
In this article, I am going to cover the best ways to monetize a website and what you need to start.
So, let’s begin!
What You Need to Do to Get Started
One important thing to note is that monetizing your website is not instantaneous. As simple as it may look, there is no instant “get rich” scheme. You’ll still have to put in the effort, time, and potential initial investment to make it work.
First and foremost, make sure you already have a website. It is the place where you post your work and earn from it. Decide on what kind of website or online business you want to have too.
If you haven’t made one, there are plenty of articles that can show you how to make a website. Remember to opt for a hosting provider that offers the features that your site will require.
If you already have an established website that has or is growing its audience, you’re ready to learn how to monetize a website.
Build Your Audience
Most monetization strategies have one thing in common – their success depends on traffic.
If you have a lot of traffic, you’ll have higher chances of turning your site into an income source. Without people viewing your site, you won’t be able to make use of most monetization strategies.
For tracking traffic, I suggest using Google Analytics. It provides statistics such as how long people stay on your site, the page views you get, and where your traffic is coming from. This information helps understand your audience’s habits and your site’s performance to optimize it further through data-driven decisions.
Use SEO Strategies
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) contributes to generating organic traffic. It is an essential part of any modern marketing strategy because well-managed SEO makes sure that your targeted audience views your content. How does it work?
SEO techniques boost your site’s rank on the Search Engine Result Pages (SERP). Usually, the targeted search engines are Google and Bing.
Create Great Content
Content is a vital part of keeping your audience engaged. It contributes to maintaining them and turning a one-time visitor into a returning one.
Eventually, you’ll have a loyal audience that will be a crowd of potential customers.
When making great content, focus on being informative and helpful. Catch your audience’s eye with a creative title and keep them reading with an engaging, problem-solving article or other kinds of content pieces. Also, don’t forget always to base your content on hard facts.
9 Best Ways to Make Money from Your Website
Now that you know what it takes to start, we’re going to delve into the core. It’s time for me to show you the nine best ways to monetize a website.
1. Pay Per Click Advertising
Pay Per Click advertising is a method that earns income every time a user clicks on an ad placed on your website, or for alternatively per a number of views (impressions). The most popular platform for this is Google AdSense.
It is easy to set up, and bases ads on your site’s niche, while always paying you on time – between the 21st or 26th of each month. When using Google AdSense, you will get 68% of the revenue from AdSense. Google AdSense also has extensive documentation that will make management and troubleshooting much easier.
However, using PPC methods requires you to have high traffic. If you don’t have a lot of people visiting your website, the amount of people who click on the ads is going to be low, which results in low earnings.
2. Affiliate Marketing
If you already have a substantial audience and persuasive content, you can sign up with an affiliate program. Choose useful products that suit your audience’s interest and place an affiliate link on your site that encourages visitors to purchase the item.
Every time your audience clicks the link or buys the product through you, you’ll get a commission.
Affiliate marketing is one of the easiest and fastest ways to create an income source. There are a lot of brands who are eager to make use of affiliate marketers. Two of the most popular affiliate marketing programs that you can try are Amazon Associates and the eBay Partner Network.
3. Sell Advertising Space
When your site has a high average monthly visitor count, you can start considering selling ad space as a way of monetizing your site. Selling space for ads is related to the Pay Per Click method.
Companies whose products are relevant to your audience can advertise products on your site via banner ads, pop-ups, etc. Typically you receive payment based on clicks or impressions.
However, make sure that the ads displayed don’t ruin your website’s look or impact the user experience negatively. Not to mention, there are a lot of people who use ad-blocker to improve their user experience, meaning this method may be somewhat unreliable.
4. Donation Based Monetization
If you’re only starting out and don’t feel confident enough to sell services, you can try giving your audience an option to donate.
Donation-based monetization requires both skill and content. Some audiences are willing to give money to their favorite creators if it means getting more content.
Of course, you must have a loyal audience. Make sure that your content is excellent and use donations to make it even better.
To accept donations, you can use a payment processor. Three time-tested WordPress donation plugins can help:
- Paypal Donations. It is easy to install, responsive and offers recurring donation options.
- Give. It is easy to use, compatible with most themes and has a reporting tool where you can track donation activity.
- WooCommerce Donation Plugin. It is open-source, mobile-friendly, and allows you to accept donations in any amount.
5. Paid Membership
Paid memberships allow your audience to view exclusive content for a price. It is an excellent way of gaining income as the payments are usually recurring. However, to make a membership site, you must have an interested and engaged audience, and content people will want to pay for.
There are three payment types you can apply:
- Subscription. Your members can pay for a monthly or annual membership to access exclusive content and other benefits.
- Transaction. You can sell specific content, such as tutorial videos, webinars, etc.
- Metered. The membership for your site is free until your member reaches a checkpoint where they have to pay to continue.
When making a paid membership site, I’d suggest using one of these three WordPress plugins:
- Restrict Content Pro. Provides email updates, professional add-ons, and can be used on unlimited sites.
- PrivateContent. Offers responsive themes, automatic updates, and you can track your viewers through the admin panel.
- MemberPress. It is easy to use, has excellent customer support, and provides third-party payment integration.
6. Sponsored Content
When monetizing your website, you can also seek partnership in the form of sponsored content – a company gives you their product or service, and you create content based on it.
To use this method, you need a lot of traffic and know how to create review content.
Avoid earning a bad reputation by making the promotions completely transparent. The content itself must resonate with your niche and beliefs so and have a connection with your audience. Do not pressure visitors into buying items, instead highlight the benefits, and create good, honest content.
7. Sell Digital Products and Services
If you are an expert in a field or have a particular skill, you can try to monetize your website by sharing your knowledge.
Services can vary from online courses, classes, or coaching. If your niche is health and fitness, you can sell online workout plans.
It is crucial to choose the best online payment gateway. I recommend using one of these options:
- Paypal. Whether you’re buying goods online or paying your bills, Paypal is a fast and secure way to perform transactions online. You’re free to sign up and start using it right away.
- WePay. Signing up to WePay is easy. It has no monthly fees, no minimum deposits, and it’s suitable for a small to medium-sized business.
- Dwolla. Unlike other payment systems, Dwolla doesn’t charge you for buying, selling, or sending money. It has excellent customer service, and guarantees account security.
8. Create an Ecommerce Store
This method is similar to the previous one but offers a bit more flexibility. There are many options to choose from: set up a dropshipping operation, sell your goods, or offer others to host products on your store for a price.
To create an ecommerce store, you need to build credibility and provide tools to accommodate both buyers and sellers. For this there are a couple of popular ecommerce platforms that can do the trick just right:
- Shopify. Shopify is a hosted solution for those who just started an online business. It is easy to use with a responsive and attractive design. It also provides 24/7 customer service and reliable security regarding personal data. Check out or tutorial explaining how does Shopify work!
- WooCommerce. If your site uses WordPress, WooCommerce might be the perfect solution. It doesn’t require coding skills and offers integrated shipping calculation, inventory, and tax management features. We have a tutorial covering how to create your first online store with WooCommerce.
- PrestaShop. PrestaShop is a CMS used by small to medium-sized businesses. It is open-source, offers flexible and responsive design, and provides 24/7 customer support.
9. Website Flipping
Another popular way of earning from a website is by flipping it. You can buy or build a website and then sell it for a profit. This method is great if you want to create a portfolio as a web developer or marketer.
To sell a site, it needs to have substantial traffic, be profitable, and have growth potential. That will be the foundation for convincing people to buy one.
You don’t always have to start big, instead, ask local companies or businesses if you can make them a site.
Website flipping heavily depends on the type of site you run. Flipping can be a great way of learning how to monetize different kinds of sites in various industries. The most popular website markets where you can sell are Flippa, FE International, and Website Broker.
And That’s How You Do It!
From what we’ve learned, monetizing a website is not as difficult as it might look, but it does involve some prerequisites. If you own a site with an established audience and great content, you can start earning.
Let’s recap the strategies we discussed – here are nine great methods to monetize a website:
- Pay Per Click Advertising. You’ll earn every time a user clicks on an ad on your site.
- Sell advertising space. Sell ad space on your site for other companies or businesses.
- Donation-based monetization. Earn from your audience members who are willing to donate money.
- Paid membership. Create a membership site or area where you publish premium content accessible for a price.
- Sponsored content. Get a business partnership where you make content based on products or services a company provides.
- Sell digital products and services. Sell your products or services in the form of online courses, ebooks, or coaching.
- Create an ecommerce store. Build an ecommerce website and partake in dropshipping, selling your goods, or host other people’s products.
- Website flipping. You can buy or build websites and then resell them at a profit.
So, are you ready to monetize your website? Which method works best for your site? Let us know in the comments!
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